PEARSALL, Texas – A 92-year-old man is recovering in the hospital after a serious dog attack. Trinidad De Leon was in his backyard tending to his chickens when his daughters say a stray dog bit his hand and then his shoulder and back area.
“My sister had taken my mother to a doctor’s appointment and when she got back, she noticed there was blood inside the house,” Delma Aguirre said.
Family members said the dog was trying to get to the chickens and De Leon attempted to scare it away.
“At the time when he tried to spook the dog, the dog charged him,” Aguirre said.
Relatives described the severe injuries. The pictures are too graphic for KSAT to share.
“You could see the tendons as you can see in the pictures, it was pretty open,” Flower Camacho said.
Camacho said doctors later recommended amputation after finding extensive damage.
“There was fragments of bones and debris and everything,” Camacho said. “They told us that we had made the right choice of having it amputated.”
The family said De Leon also had additional wounds that required stitches.
“The laceration that was in his back, he’s got a couple of stitches, but it looks pretty clean and it doesn’t look like it’s going to need anything further than that,” Camacho said.
Relatives said the dog was captured and quarantined. Camacho said they were told it was a mixed pit bull terrier.
The attack happened near a playground at Polo Patino Park, raising concerns for children and other residents, the family said.
“Our area where my parents live is very well trafficked, and it’s a very popular park, so there’s always children around,” Camacho said. “So I think that’s our biggest concern.”
Neighbors said stray dogs have been a persistent issue in the area.
“It’s bad. It is really bad,” Rosa Frausto, a neighbor, said. “Every morning I would count them, about 11.”
Frausto said residents want a faster response when they call for help.
“I wish that the dog pound would answer as soon as we call, because we call them and they don’t they don’t come,” Frausto said.
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